Abstract
This technical paper begins by introducing the concept of aquaponics, including a brief history of its development and its place within the larger category of soil-less culture and modern agriculture. It discusses the main theoretical concepts of aquaponics, including the nitrogen cycle and the nitrification process, the role of bacteria, and the concept of balancing an aquaponic unit. It then moves on to cover important considerations of water quality parameters, water testing, and water sourcing for aquaponics, as well as methods and theories of unit design, including the three main methods of aquaponic systems: media beds, nutrient film technique, and deep water culture.

Craig Petten and Pablo Alvarez, winners of Humber’s Launch Pad Competition, have started Aqua Greens, an aquaponics farming operation in the heart of Mississauga.Photo by Randy Risling.

Ancient techniques of growing greens with fish and water are well ahead of Toronto bylaws

By Christopher Hume
The Star
Jan 25 2015

Excerpt:

No surprise then that when Alvarez and Petten approached the city about setting up their operation, they were denied permission. Though Toronto officials were willing to allow them into small areas of South Etobicoke, there aren’t any usable spaces in those locations. Toronto aquaponics is considered agriculture and, therefore, illegal.

A state law enacted in 2013 allows cities to create urban agriculture incentive zones, which would reduce property taxes if landowners allow small scale farming.

By Amy Quinton
Capital Public Radio
January 05, 2015

Excerpt:

Trudeau had a business license to sell the food to restaurants, but he wanted to expand. He found an oddly-shaped commercial lot in a blighted area and found an owner willing to let him put a greenhouse on it. But then he ran into trouble.

“I went to the city though to check it out, like ‘what would I have to do’ and they were like, ‘Well raising food, that’s not a permitted use in the commercial zone or residential zone,'” says Trudeau. “So I kind of got stopped in my tracks there.”

For lighting, when using LEDs (a combination of white, red and blue) they run about 17 hours a day 5-7″ above the plants.

We are back with the second installment of our new series interviewing urban aquaponic farmers. Today’s interview is with Peggy Berk, who have an aquaponic garden in her Manhattan apartment and advises clients on how to do the same in her professional life as an interior designer. As always, these interviews are brought to you in collaboration with Sylvia Bernstein and The Aquaponic Source in Longmont, Colorado. You can click here to learn more about aquaponics on their website. Enjoy!

Name: Peggy Berk

Where are you from? Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m a native New Yorker, whom, after years of roaming the world, returned to Manhattan where I’ve lived for the past 39 years. I’m the owner and principal designer of Area Aesthetics Interior Design, a full service interior design and decorating company, and also Chair the Education Committee of the Sustainable Furnishings Council. Formerly I owned a PR and Marketing company, and before that was a journalist here in New York City and in the mideast.

How did you get interested in aquaponics?
Growing up, Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” was a frequent topic of conversation (maybe, more accurately, “debate”) around our dinner table and my father passed on to us his love of the outdoors and, particularly, the oceans and marine life. Conservation and sustainability were not distant global concerns for us; it was definitely personal.

Jacob Deyo helped build a hydroponic system and and aquaponic system; that uses fish to help feed the plants.

By Katrina Irwin
Rochester Homepage
12/11/2014

Excerpt:

Hidden behind a coffee shop on Rochester’s East Main Street is a greenhouse sprouting with possibilities.

“We’re really able to train our young people to be the farmers of tomorrow,” said Seedfolk Farm Youth Director Lisa Barker. “Not only be the farmers of tomorrow, but do it in their cities not far from where they live.”

Lisa is working with city youth, teaching them to grow vegetables and herbs.

As far as fish, me and my next door neighbor go to the Myacca River state park and cast net.

The below interview is the first in our new series profiling aquaponic urban farmers around the world – people using the combined principles of hydroponics and aquaculture, to both grow fresh produce and raise fish in their homes. The interviews were put together in collaboration with Sylvia Bernstein and The Aquaponic Source in Longmont, Colorado. You can also click here to learn more about aquaponics on their website. Enjoy!

Name: Richard DeCormis

Where are you from? Tell us a bit about yourself.
Bradenton Florida. 56 Disabled Artist Fabricator.

How did you get interested in aquaponics?
I got interested in Aquaponics because I was looking for something on the path toward self sufficiency.
I wanted something that was Vegetable and protein oriented and not a real physical workout too.

Early in November, the trio launched a funding campaign on Indiegogo to raise $10,000 to create what appears to be New York’s first commercial-scale aquaponic rooftop farm, where they plan to not only raise locally grown herbs and vegetables, but also fresh fish. With just hours to go (as of this writing), they’ve already surpassed their goal by $1,000, and it seems they plan to waste no time in putting that cash to good use—they’ve already invited donors to tour the farm come mid January.

Agnès Joly, who has been chosen by the city of Paris to develop aquaponic gardening as part of a plan to promote urban farming and innovative green spaces, explains her farm to my friend, Nathalie.

In her above-ground garden, Agnes is tending three separate plant beds, each devoted to a different form of urban gardening, all thriving without soil.

By Honicker
News Item
Nov 30, 2014

Excerpt:

In Belleville Park at La Maison de l’air, “the House of Air,” a modern structure with a glass facade, where visitors can learn about atmospheric conditions in Paris, I meet Agnes Joly, an agricultural engineer. To explain her work to us, she takes time off from tending her aquaponic garden, a long row of above-ground edible plants fertilized by dozens of gold fish swimming in a pool at the garden’s base.

Founder of Joly Mer (mer means sea), Agnes has been chosen by the city of Paris to develop aquaponic gardening as part of a plan to promote urban farming and innovative green spaces.

Anaheim is teaming up with Renewable Farms to raise money for an aquaponics farm that would grow food for low-income families and create jobs in the city.

By Greg Lee
ABC7
November 26, 2014

Excerpt:

ANAHEIM, Calif. (KABC) — A small garden in the middle of Huntington Beach could change the future of urban farming.

“Our sustainable farms are pulling out nutritious, delicious food, but also making the environment a better place to live in,” said Aaron Flora of Renewable Farms, a non-profit focused on sustainable agriculture.

So how does Renewable Farms do it? They use a process called aquaponics.

Aquaponics systems allow you to raise both vegetables and fish in tight spaces.

By Sarah McColl
Take Part
November 13, 2014

Excerpt:

In a 950-square-foot second-floor walk-up in Manhattan, Jonathan Kadish grows rainbow chard, bok choy, and lettuce in a four-foot-square nook near his desk. It’s a two-story system: A soilless bed sits atop a fish tank in which two $3 pet-store goldfish swim. Kadish’s tiny garden is intended as a supplemental food source only, but it’s a small, urban-scale model of sustainable agriculture that has a growing number of people excited. “I get people from all over the world who ask to come visit and check it out,” he says.

The former Beam building to become aquacultural business in Webster City.

The farm will raise Barramundi which is meaty and popular in Australia.

Webster City, Iowa
AP
Nov 4, 2014

Excerpt:

The company’s president, Keith Driver, said the 270,000-square-foot building will have about 215 fish tanks that can each store about 10,000 gallons of water. About 20,000 pounds of fish can be raised annually in each tank, he said.

Sustainability: Dr. Stump works with the tilapia and plants in SLU’s greenhouse. Stump sees the project as an important model of future food production. Photo by John Schuler.

Stump and other leaders of the Urban Project want to give students a glimpse of what the world might look like in the future

Posted by Jessica Winter
The University News
Sept 19, 2014

Excerpt:

In its mission statement, Saint Louis University pledges dedication to the service of humanity and innovative studies required to transform society. Helping to carry out this aspect of the mission is SLU’s Urban Outreach Greenhouse project – a program that works to promote urban agricultural sustainability.

The Greenhouse project is one of many efforts attached to SLU’s Urban Project endeavor, an effort that started in 2009 and is spearheaded by professors Donald Stump, Richard Colignon, and Robert Cropf. The Urban Project aims to make advances in education and efforts in facing present and future urban issues. One of these current problems concerns food deserts, or geographic areas that struggle to obtain nutritious and affordable food.

Growing indoors uses 98% less water and 70% less fertilizer than traditional methods, and has a higher yield. Photo: Rex Features.

As emerging lighting and automation technology plant the seeds for urban farming, a growing number of entrepreneurs are getting green thumbs

By Martin LaMonica
theguardian.com
5 July 2014

Excerpt:

So far, indoor farms still contribute little to the global food system because production costs are higher than conventional growing methods. And they tend to use more electricity. But businesses are starting take advantage of new technologies, including energy-efficient LED lighting and automated systems, to bring down costs. As these technologies become standardized, indoor farming will make sense in more locations, says Chad Sykes, CEO of Indoor Harvest, which builds custom indoor farms for professional growers.

At some point in the early 2000’s an unknown person began introducing a small population of exotic Koi and Catfish species.

By Jesse Rockwell
A Taste of the Road
18/10/2013

Excerpt:

Down a nondescript soi in old town Bangkok lies a relatively unknown hidden gem. Without a good knowledge of Bangkok geography, one would be hard pressed to believe anything interesting lies behind this gate.

Edible City is a fun, fast-paced journey through the local Good Food Movement that’s taking root in the San Francisco Bay Area, across the nation and around the world. Introducing a diverse cast of extraordinary and eccentric characters who are challenging the paradigm of our broken food system, Edible City digs into their unique perspectives and transformative work— from edible education to grassroots activism to building local economies— finding hopeful solutions to monumental problems. Inspirational, down-to-earth and a little bit quirky, Edible City captures the spirit of a movement that’s making real change and doing something truly revolutionary: growing the model for a healthy, sustainable local food system.